This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily Newsbrief for Thursday, February 2nd, 2023. Happy Friday Jr. everyone… Again, just a reminder the signup for our upcoming Fight Laugh Feast Conference at the Ark Encounter is LIVE. So just to recap, if you’re a club member, you get $100 off your ticket pricing, and if you sign up while we have early bird pricing, you’ll get $100 off of that! What a deal! Head on over to fightlaughfeast.com, to get that club membership, and then sign up for our conference with that discount! Early bird pricing ends on May 1st, so again, sign up at fightlaughfeast.com. 
 
https://www.theepochtimes.com/bipartisan-lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-ban-china-from-buying-us-farmland_5024703.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport 
 
Bipartisan Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Ban China from Buying US Farmland
 
Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and John Tester (D-Mont.) on Feb. 1 introduced a bill to ban China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from buying or leasing U.S. farmland and agricultural businesses.
 
The proposed legislation, named the PASS (Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security) Act of 2023, would require the president to report to Congress on any waiver granted to the prohibited countries. It would also make the secretary of agriculture a standing member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a federal panel that reviews foreign acquisitions for national security risks, and specify agricultural investments as falling under CFIUS’ jurisdiction.
 
While the legislation is the same as a version introduced last year, Rounds said that this year’s bill has more bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress and support from stakeholders.
 
“The intent behind this particular legislation was to prohibit China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from establishing locations in the United States where they could monitor activity, specifically potential military activity,” said Rounds in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.
 
Rounds highlighted the value of farming and seed technology developed in the United States.
 
“China has an interest in taking some of our advancements and using them in their country without acknowledging the patents that may accompany that material, which is made easier if they have a base of operation in the United States in which to obtain the material in the first place,” he added.
 
A third-generation Montana farmer, Tester said in a statement that he was proud to sponsor the bill to “ensure our farmers have a seat at the table when the government makes decisions impacting our national security.” Tester added that he was not going to “sit back” and “let our foreign adversaries weaken our national security by buying up American farmland.”
 
Agriculture is the lifeblood of South Dakota’s economy, worth nearly $12 billion in 2021, according to the South Dakota Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources (pdf). As the state’s largest industry, agriculture leads tourism—the second-largest industry, estimated at over $4 billion in 2021—by three times.
 
The South Dakota Farmers Union (SDFU) and South Dakota Sheep Growers Association (SDSGA) have endorsed the bill. Doug Sombke, president of SDFU, in a statement also encouraged other state farmers’ unions to support the bill.
 
The legislation is cosponsored by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.). The House version, also introduced on Wednesday, is sponsored by Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.).
 
Last month, CFIUS decided that it didn’t have jurisdiction to review a land purchase related to a controversial Chinese corn mill project in Grand Forks, North Dakota. That project is located within 15 miles of the Grand Forks Air Force base, which houses sensitive drone, satellite, and surveillance technology, and has prompted significant pushback from Republican lawmakers and locals who say it threatens both national